1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video cassette tape recorder, and particularly to a video cassette tape recorder including a device for opening lid of a tape cassette during the movement of the tape cassette from an ejecting position to an operating position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a loading operation of a typical front loading-type video cassette tape recorder, a tape cassette horizontally moves along a horizontal guide path from an ejecting position and then downwardly moves along a vertical guide path to an operating position. At the operating position, tape is drawn out of the cassette by a post of a tape-travelling system of the recorder. To this end, the post is disposed upstream, when viewed in a direction of the horizontal movement of cassette, as compared with a position of the tape when the cassette is at a position where the cassette completes its horizontal movement and initiates its vertical movement. That is the horizontal movement of the cassette particularly its preceeding lid is completed at a downstream position, when viewed in the direction of the movement of cassette, as compared with that of the post. Due to this arrangement, the bottom surface of the horizontally-moving cassette should be at a level higher than that of the tip of the post, in order to avoid any interruption of the horizontal movement of the cassette by the post. As a result, the length of the vertical movement of cassette is so long that the top surface of the cassette when it is disposed at the operating position is below the bottom surface of the cassette when it is horizontally moved. This means that if a tape cassette is inadvertantly loaded in the recorder when another tape cassette has been already disposed at the operating position, it can move to a position just above the cassette tape disposed at the operating position, along the horizontal guide path, without any interruption, so that the recorder may get out of order. To prevent such risk, therefore, the recorder has to include a separate means with a complex construction for avoiding any inadvertant loading of a tape cassette when another tape cassette has been already loaded therein. This results in an increase of the manufacturing cost of the recorder. Since the length of the vertical movement of the tape cassette is long, the total height of the recorder is also proportionally long, thereby adversely affecting the compactness of the recorder.
In a tape cassette, the lower edge of tape is disposed at a higher level than that of the bottom surface of the cassette by a certain distance. If the lid of the tape cassette can be opened before the lid reaches the position just above the post during the horizontal movement of the cassette, therefore, the length of the vertical movement of the cassette can be reduced by the above-mentioned distance. This means that the top surface of the cassette when it is disposed at the operating position can be above the bottom surface of the cassette when it is horizontally moved. As a result, if a tape cassette is inadvertantly loaded in the recorder when another tape cassette has been already disposed at the operating position, its horizontal movement along the horizontal guide path can be interrupted without using a separate means therefor, in view of the fact that during the horizontal movement, the front wall of the preceeding lid of cassette will contact with the rear wall of the cassette disposed at the operating position.